Longmont police: Infant among 13 found in squalid conditions at 'flophouse'

Five arrested; infant in social service custody

By Pierrette J. Shields Longmont Times-Call

Posted:
12/20/2013 07:47:07 AM MST

Updated:
12/20/2013 01:48:12 PM MST

Longmont police arrested five people and removed a 5-month-old baby from a home at 330 Collyer Street that police believe is a flophouse and home-base for meth dealers.

Officers found 13 people in the single-family home during a 5:15 a.m. raid on Friday, including five with outstanding warrants and the infant. Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said officers donned protective suits because of the squalid conditions, including bed bugs. The infant was removed from the home and placed into social services custody.

The Friday raid on the home was the third time police served search warrants in response to mounting community complaints.

"We will be exploring all legal options, including working with the district attorney to get this house declared a legal nuisance," Satur said. "We know this house is a problem in this neighborhood. We're trying to address those issues with all appropriate means."

According to the search warrant, a neighbor reported "an endless stream of addicts banging on the doors to 330 Collyer St. at all times of the day and night, consistent with drug users creating an unsafe environment for the community."

And, witnesses noted, the activity would spill over on to their property as those looking for the home would bang on their doors. Satur said one woman told officers on Friday morning that she recently discovered a topless woman in her yard.

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The warrant recounts the statements of numerous witnesses, some who had been in the home and reported drug sales and poor living conditions. Police recounted surveillance of the home that confirmed drug-dealing activities and follow-up arrests.

After the home was raided in October 2012, owner Ralph Silverio Nuanez reportedly told a detective that several dealers were selling methamphetamine out of the home "from morning till night." He reported that at least 20 customers would visit his home daily and added that he had been a meth user for at least three years at the time.

"Nuanez is allowing these people to come in and use and live in his residence because he likes to use methamphetamine with those he lets into his residence," police reported in the search warrant affidavit.

He was convicted of misdemeanor drug possession after the 2012 raid, court records show.

Satur said Nuanez was not arrested on Friday morning because there were no drugs in his room. Police are working with code enforcement and adult protective services in the house, which Satur said will be an ongoing project for police.

Should police and the DA pursue and secure a nuisance designation for the property, the courts could outline use and occupancy parameters for the home that, if violated, could imperil ownership.